According to the 2010 Census, the city's population was 105,162.[6] As of July 2014[update], it was the fifth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, Worcester, Springfield and Lowell.[7] Cambridge was one of the two seats of Middlesex County until the abolition of county government in 1997; Lowell was the other.

Map showing the original boundaries of Cambridge and other Massachusetts cities and towns

In December 1630, the site of what would become Cambridge was chosen because it was safely upriver from Boston Harbor, making it easily defensible from attacks by enemy ships. Thomas Dudley, his daughter Anne Bradstreet, and her husband Simon were among the town's first settlers. The first houses were built in the spring of 1631. The settlement was initially referred to as "the newe towne".[10][11] Official Massachusetts records show the name rendered as Newe Towne by 1632, and as Newtowne by 1638.[11][12] Located at the first convenient Charles River crossing west of Boston, Newe Towne was one of a number of towns (including Boston, Dorchester, Watertown, and Weymouth) founded by the 700 original Puritan colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony under Governor John Winthrop. Its first preacher was Thomas Hooker, who led many of its original inhabitants west to found the Connecticut Colony; before leaving, they sold their plots to more recent immigrants from England.[10] The original village site is in the heart of today's Harvard Square. The marketplace where farmers brought crops from surrounding towns to sell survives today as the small park at the corner of John F. Kennedy and Winthrop Streets, then at the edge of a salt marsh (since filled). The town comprised a much larger area than the present city,[10] with various outlying parts becoming independent towns over the years: Cambridge Village (later Newtown and now Newton) in 1688,[13] Cambridge Farms (now Lexington) in 1712[10] or 1713,[14] and Little or South Cambridge (now Brighton)[a] and Menotomy or West Cambridge (now Arlington) in 1807.[10][15][b] In the late 19th century, various schemes for annexing Cambridge to Boston were pursued and rejected.[16][17]

Cambridge grew slowly as an agricultural village eight miles (13 km) by road from Boston, the colony's capital. By the American Revolution, most residents lived near the Common and Harvard College, with most of the town comprising farms and estates. Most inhabitants were descendants of the original Puritan colonists, but there was also a small elite of Anglican "worthies" who were not involved in village life, made their livings from estates, investments, and trade, and lived in mansions along "the Road to Watertown" (today's Brattle Street, still known as Tory Row). Coming up from Virginia, George Washington took command of the volunteer American soldiers camped on Cambridge Common on July 3, 1775,[10] now reckoned the birthplace of the U.S. Army.[24] Most of the Tory estates were confiscated after the Revolution. On January 24, 1776, Henry Knox arrived with artillery captured from Fort Ticonderoga, which enabled Washington to drive the British army out of Boston.

Map of Cambridge from 1873

Between 1790 and 1840, Cambridge grew rapidly, with the construction of the West Boston Bridge in 1792 connecting Cambridge directly to Boston, so that it was no longer necessary to travel eight miles (13 km) through the Boston Neck, Roxbury, and Brookline to cross the Charles River. A second bridge, the Canal Bridge, opened in 1809 alongside the new Middlesex Canal. The new bridges and roads made what were formerly estates and marshland into prime industrial and residential districts.

1852 Map of Boston area showing Cambridge and regional rail lines and highlighting the course of the Middlesex Canal. Cambridge is toward the bottom of the map and outlined in yellow, and should not be confused with the pink-outlined and partially cropped "West Cambridge", now Arlington.

Cambridge was incorporated as a city in 1846[10] despite persistent tensions between East Cambridge, Cambridgeport, and Old Cambridge stemming from differences in culture, sources of income, and the national origins of the residents.[26] The city's commercial center began to shift from Harvard Square to Central Square, which became the city's downtown around this time. Between 1850 and 1900, Cambridge took on much of its present character—streetcar suburban development along the turnpikes, with working-class and industrial neighborhoods focused on East Cambridge, comfortable middle-class housing on the old Cambridgeport and Mid-Cambridge estates, and upper-class enclaves near Harvard University and on the minor hills. The coming of the railroad to North Cambridge and Northwest Cambridge led to three major changes: the development of massive brickyards and brickworks between Massachusetts Ave., Concord Ave. and Alewife Brook; the ice-cutting industry launched by Frederic Tudor on Fresh Pond; and the carving up of the last estates into residential subdivisions to house the thousands of immigrants who arrived to work in the new industries.

As industry in New England began to decline during the Great Depression and after World War II, Cambridge lost much of its industrial base. It also began to become an intellectual, rather than an industrial, center. Harvard University had always been important as both a landowner and an institution, but it began to play a more dominant role in the city's life and culture. When Radcliffe College was established in 1879 the town became a mecca for some of the nation's most academically talented female students. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's move from Boston in 1916 reinforced Cambridge's status as an intellectual center of the United States.

After the 1950s, the city's population began to decline slowly as families tended to be replaced by single people and young couples. The 1980s brought a wave of high-technology startups, creating software such as Visicalc and Lotus 1-2-3, and advanced computers, but many of these companies fell into decline with the fall of the minicomputer and DOS-based systems. The city continues to be home to many startups. Kendall Square was a major software hub through the dot-com boom and today hosts offices of such major technology companies as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, and the headquarters of Akamai.[33]

In 1976, Harvard's plans to start experiments with recombinant DNA led to a three-month moratorium and a citizen review panel. In the end, Cambridge decided to allow such experiments but passed safety regulations in 1977. This led to regulatory certainty and acceptance when Biogen opened a lab in 1982, in contrast to the hostility that caused the Genetic Institute (a Harvard spinoff) to abandon Somerville and Boston for Cambridge.[34] The biotech and pharmaceutical industries have since thrived in Cambridge, which now includes headquarters for Biogen and Genzyme; laboratories for Novartis, Teva, Takeda, Alnylam, Ironwood, Catabasis, Moderna Therapeutics, Editas Medicine; support companies such as Cytel; and many smaller companies.

By the end of the 20th century, Cambridge had one of the most expensive housing markets in the Northeastern United States.[35] While considerable class, race, and age diversity persisted, it became harder for those who grew up in the city to afford to stay. The end of rent control in 1994 prompted many Cambridge renters to move to more affordable housing in Somerville and other cities or towns.

Cambridge has been called the "City of Squares",[39][40] as most of its commercial districts are major street intersections known as squares. Each square acts as a neighborhood center. These include:

Kendall Square, formed by the junction of Broadway, Main Street, and Third Street. It is also known as Technology Square, a name shared with an office and laboratory building cluster in the neighborhood. Just over the Longfellow Bridge from Boston, at the eastern end of the MIT campus, it is served by the Kendall/MIT station on the MBTARed Line subway. Most of Cambridge's large office towers are here, giving the area something of the feel of an office park. A flourishing biotech industry has grown up in this area. The Cambridge Innovation Center, a large co-working space, is in Kendall Square at 1 Broadway. The Cambridge Center office complex is in Kendall Square, and not at the actual center of Cambridge. The "One Kendall Square" complex is nearby, but confusingly not actually in Kendall Square.

Central Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street, and Western Avenue. Well known for its wide variety of ethnic restaurants, it was rather rundown as recently as the late 1990s; it underwent a controversial gentrification in recent years (in conjunction with the development of the nearby University Park at MIT), and continues to grow more expensive. It is served by the Central Station stop on the MBTA Red Line subway. Lafayette Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street, and Main Street, is considered part of the Central Square area. Cambridgeport is south of Central Square along Magazine Street and Brookline Street.

Harvard Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and JFK Street. This is the primary site of Harvard University and a major Cambridge shopping area. It is served by a Red Line station. Harvard Square was originally the Red Line's northwestern terminus and a major transfer point to streetcars that also operated in a short tunnel—which is still a major bus terminal, although the area under the Square was reconfigured dramatically in the 1980s when the Red Line was extended. The Harvard Square area includes Brattle Square and Eliot Square. A short distance away from the square lies the Cambridge Common, while the neighborhood north of Harvard and east of Massachusetts Avenue is known as Agassiz, after the famed scientist Louis Agassiz.

Inman Square, at the junction of Cambridge and Hampshire streets in Mid-Cambridge. It is home to many diverse restaurants, bars, music venues and boutiques. Victorian streetlights, benches and bus stops were recently added to the streets, and a new city park was installed.

The Port, formerly known as Area 4, is bordered on the north by Hampshire Street, on the south by Massachusetts Avenue, on the west by Prospect Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks. Residents of Area 4 often simply call their neighborhood "The Port" and the area of Cambridgeport and Riverside "The Coast". In October 2015, the Cambridge City Council officially renamed Area 4 "The Port," formalizing the longtime nickname, largely on the initiative of neighborhood native and then-Vice Mayor Dennis Benzan.[41]

Cambridgeport (Area 5) is bordered on the north by Massachusetts Avenue, on the south by the Charles River, on the west by River Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks.

Mid-Cambridge (Area 6) is bordered on the north by Kirkland and Hampshire Streets and Somerville, on the south by Massachusetts Avenue, on the west by Peabody Street, and on the east by Prospect Street.

Riverside (Area 7), an area sometimes called "The Coast," is bordered on the north by Massachusetts Avenue, on the south by the Charles River, on the west by JFK Street, and on the east by River Street.

Neighborhood Nine or Radcliffe (formerly called Peabody, until the recent relocation of a neighborhood school by that name) is bordered on the north by railroad tracks, on the south by Concord Avenue, on the west by railroad tracks, and on the east by Massachusetts Avenue.

The Avon Hill sub-neighborhood consists of the higher elevations within the area bounded by Upland Road, Raymond Street, Linnaean Street and Massachusetts Avenue.

Brattle area/West Cambridge (Area 10) is bordered on the north by Concord Avenue and Garden Street, on the south by the Charles River and Watertown, on the west by Fresh Pond and the Collins Branch Library, and on the east by JFK Street. It includes the sub-neighborhoods of Brattle Street (formerly known as Tory Row) and Huron Village.

In 2010, there were 44,032 households out of which 16.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.9% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.4% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the city, the population was spread out with 13.3% of the population under the age of 18, 21.2% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $47,979, and the median income for a family was $59,423 (these figures had risen to $58,457 and $79,533 respectively as of a 2007 estimate[update][59]). Males had a median income of $43,825 versus $38,489 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,156. About 8.7% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.

Cambridge has been ranked as one of the most liberal cities in America.[60] Locals living in and near the city jokingly refer to it as "The People's Republic of Cambridge."[61] For 2016, the residential property tax rate in Cambridge was $6.99 per $1,000.[62] Cambridge enjoys the highest possible bond credit rating, AAA, with all three Wall Street rating agencies.[63]

Cambridge has a large and varied collection of permanent public art, on both city property (managed by the Cambridge Arts Council)[80] and the Harvard[81] and MIT[82] campuses. Temporary public artworks are displayed as part of the annual Cambridge River Festival on the banks of the Charles River, during winter celebrations in Harvard and Central Squares, and at university campus sites. Experimental forms of public artistic and cultural expression include the Central Square World's Fair, the annual Somerville-based Honk! Festival,[83] and If This House Could Talk,[84] a neighborhood art and history event. Street musicians and other performers entertain tourists and locals in Harvard Square during the warmer months. The performances are coordinated through a public process that has been developed collaboratively by the performers,[85] city administrators, private organizations and business groups.[86] The Cambridge public library contains four Works Progress Administration murals completed in 1935 by Elizabeth Tracy Montminy: Religion, Fine Arts, History of Books and Paper, and The Development of the Printing Press.[87]

Despite intensive urbanization during the late 19th century and the 20th century, Cambridge has several historic buildings, including some from the 17th century. The city also has abundant contemporary architecture, largely built by Harvard and MIT.

Consisting largely of densely built residential space, Cambridge lacks significant tracts of public parkland. Easily accessible open space on the university campuses, including Harvard Yard, the Radcliffe Yard, and MIT's Great Lawn, as well as the considerable open space of Mount Auburn Cemetery, partly compensates for this. At Cambridge's western edge, the cemetery is well known as the first garden cemetery, for its distinguished inhabitants, for its superb landscaping (the oldest planned landscape in the country), and as a first-rate arboretum. Although known as a Cambridge landmark, much of the cemetery lies within Watertown.[89] It is also an Important Bird Area (IBA) in the Greater Boston area.

Cambridge is represented in six districts in the Massachusetts House of Representatives: the 24th Middlesex (which includes parts of Belmont and Arlington), the 25th and 26th Middlesex (the latter of which includes a portion of Somerville), the 29th Middlesex (which includes a small part of Watertown), and the Eighth and Ninth Suffolk (both including parts of the City of Boston).[91] The city is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the First Suffolk and Middlesex district, which contains parts of Boston, Revere and Winthrop in Suffolk County; the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex district, which includes Everett and Somerville, with Boston, Chelsea, and Revere of Suffolk, and Saugus in Essex; and the Second Suffolk and Middlesex district, containing parts of the City of Boston in Suffolk County, and Cambridge, Belmont and Watertown in Middlesex County.[92]

Cambridge has a city government led by a mayor and a nine-member city council. There is also a six-member school committee that functions alongside the superintendent of public schools. The councilors and school committee members are elected every two years using the single transferable vote (STV) system.[93]

The mayor is elected by the city councilors from among themselves, and serves as the chair of city council meetings. The mayor also sits on the school committee. The mayor is not the city's chief executive. Rather, the city manager, who is appointed by the city council, serves in that capacity.

Under the city's Plan E form of government, the city council does not have the power to appoint or remove city officials who are under direction of the city manager. The city council and its individual members are also forbidden from giving orders to any subordinate of the city manager.[94]

Louis DePasquale is the City Manager, having succeeded Lisa C. Peterson, the Acting City Manager and Cambridge's first woman City Manager, on November 14, 2016.[95] Peterson became Acting City Manager on September 30, 2016, after Richard C. Rossi announced that he would opt out of his contract renewal.[96] Rossi succeeded Robert W. Healy, who retired in June 2013 after 32 years in the position. In recent history, the media has highlighted the salary of the city manager as one of the highest for a Massachusetts civic employee.[97]

Cambridge was a county seat of Middlesex County, along with Lowell, until the abolition of county government. Though the county government was abolished in 1997, the county still exists as a geographical and political region. The employees of Middlesex County courts, jails, registries, and other county agencies now work directly for the state. The county's registrars of Deeds and Probate remain in Cambridge, but the Superior Court and District Attorney have had their operations transferred to Woburn. Third District court has shifted operations to Medford, and the county Sheriff's office awaits near-term relocation.[98][99]

Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) has served the city since its inception in 1988. CCTV operates Cambridge's public access television facility and three television channels, 8, 9, and 96, on the Cambridge cable system (Comcast). The city has invited tenders from other cable providers, but Comcast remains its only fixed television and broadband utility,[105][106] though services from American satellite TV providers are available. In October 2014, Cambridge City Manager Richard Rossi appointed a citizen Broadband Task Force to "examine options to increase competition, reduce pricing, and improve speed, reliability and customer service for both residents and businesses."[107]

Cambridge has an irregular street network because many of the roads date from the colonial era. Contrary to popular belief, the road system did not evolve from longstanding cow-paths. Roads connected various village settlements with each other and nearby towns, and were shaped by geographic features, most notably streams, hills, and swampy areas. Today, the major "squares" are typically connected by long, mostly straight roads, such as Massachusetts Avenue between Harvard Square and Central Square, or Hampshire Street between Kendall Square and Inman Square.

Besides the state-owned transit agency, the city is also served by the Charles River Transportation Management Agency (CRTMA) shuttles which are supported by some of the largest companies operating in city, in addition to the municipal government itself.[109]

Cambridge has several bike paths, including one along the Charles River,[110] and the Linear Park connecting the Minuteman Bikeway at Alewife with the Somerville Community Path. Bike parking is common and there are bike lanes on many streets, although concerns have been expressed regarding the suitability of many of the lanes. On several central MIT streets, bike lanes transfer onto the sidewalk. Cambridge bans cycling on certain sections of sidewalk where pedestrian traffic is heavy.[111][112]

While Bicycling Magazine in 2006 rated Boston as one of the worst cities in the nation for bicycling,[113] it has given Cambridge honorable mention as one of the best[114] and was called by the magazine "Boston's Great Hope". Boston has since then followed the example of Cambridge, and made considerable efforts to improve bicycling safety and convenience.[115][116][117][118][119][120]

The Weeks Bridge provides a pedestrian-only connection between Boston's Allston-Brighton neighborhood and Cambridge over the Charles River

Walking is a popular activity in Cambridge. In 2000, of US cities with more than 100,000 residents, Cambridge had the highest percentage of commuters who walked to work.[123] Cambridge's major historic squares have changed into modern walking neighborhoods, including traffic calming features based on the needs of pedestrians rather than of motorists.[124]

The city of Cambridge is protected by the Cambridge Fire Department. Established in 1832, the CFD operates eight engine companies, four ladder companies, one rescue company, and two paramedic squad companies from eight fire stations located throughout the city. The Chief is Gerald R. Reardon.[128]

Cambridge is unusual among cities inside Route 128 in having a non-MWRA water supply. City water is obtained from Hobbs Brook (in Lincoln and Waltham) and Stony Brook (Waltham and Weston). The city owns over 1,200 acres (486 ha) of land in other towns that includes these reservoirs and portions of their watershed.[129] Water from these reservoirs flows by gravity through an aqueduct to Fresh Pond in Cambridge. It is then treated in an adjacent plant and pumped uphill to an elevation of 176 feet (54 m) above sea level at the Payson Park Reservoir (Belmont); From there, the water is redistributed downhill via gravity to individual users in the city.[130][131] A new water treatment plant opened in 2001.[132] The city used MWRA water during the old plant's demolition and the new plant's construction.[citation needed] In October 2016, the City of Cambridge announced that, due to drought conditions, they would begin buying water from the MWRA.[133] On January 3, 2017, Cambridge announced that "As a result of continued rainfall each month since October 2016, we have been able to significantly reduce the need to use MWRA water. We have not purchased any MWRA water since December 12, 2016 and if 'average' rainfall continues this could continue for several months."[134]

Further educational services are provided at the Cambridge Public Library. The large modern main building was built in 2009, and connects to the restored 1888 Richardson Romanesque building. It was founded as the private Cambridge Athenaeum in 1849 and was acquired by the city in 1858, and became the Dana Library. The 1888 building was a donation of Frederick H. Rindge.

^Hannah Winthrop Chapter, D.A.R. (1907). Historic Guide to Cambridge (Second ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: Hannah Winthrop Chapter, D.A.R. pp. 20–21. On October 15, 1637, the Great and General Court passed a vote that: "The college is ordered to bee at Newetowne." In this same year the name of Newetowne was changed to Cambridge, ("It is ordered that Newetowne shall henceforward be called Cambridge") in honor of the university in Cambridge, England, where many of the early settlers were educated.

^"1920 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. Number of Inhabitants, by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions. Pages 21-5 through 21-7. Massachusetts Table 2. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1920. Retrieved July 12, 2011.

^"1890 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. Pages 179 through 182. Massachusetts Table 5. Population of States and Territories by Minor Civil Divisions: 1880 and 1890. Retrieved July 12, 2011.

^"1950 Census of Population"(PDF). 1: Number of Inhabitants. Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21–7 through 21–09, Massachusetts Table 4. Population of Urban Places of 10,000 or more from Earliest Census to 1920. Retrieved July 12, 2011.

^Casey Ross; Robert Weisman (October 27, 2010). "Novartis doubles plan for Cambridge". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011. Already Cambridge's largest corporate employer, the Swiss firm expects to hire an additional 200 to 300 employees over the next five years, bringing its total workforce in the city to around 2,300. Novartis's global research operations are headquartered in Cambridge, across Massachusetts Avenue from the site of the new four-acre campus.

^Moskowitz, Eric (February 14, 2008). "Court move a hassle for commuters". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 25, 2009. In a little more than a month, Middlesex Superior Court will open in Woburn after nearly four decades at the Edward J. Sullivan Courthouse in Cambridge. With it, the court will bring the roughly 500 people who pass through its doors each day – the clerical staff, lawyers, judges, jurors, plaintiffs, defendants, and others who use or work in the system.

^Breitrose, Charlie (July 7, 2009). "Cambridge's Middlesex Jail, courts may be shuttered for good". Wicked Local News: Cambridge. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved July 25, 2009. The courts moved out of the building to allow workers to remove asbestos. Superior Court moved to Woburn in March 2008, and in February, the Third District Court moved to Medford.

^Staff writer (2013). "Cable Television in the City of Cambridge". Cambridge Consumers' Council. Archived from the original on May 8, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2013. Comcast is currently the only cable operator that has sought a license with Cambridge. The City of Cambridge has approached other operators, more than once, about seeking a license to operate a cable TV system in Cambridge, but they have informed us that Cambridge is not part of their business plan; however, City officials stand ready to negotiate with any willing operator.